Ranking Every New Jersey Devils Trade Deadline Since Ilya Kovalchuk Trade
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils have been traditionally very busy on and ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. That was no different in 2021. Whether it’s as a buyer or a seller, the Devils are usually right in all the chatter, and a big deal comes often. Some years it’s quiet, but most years the Devils are making a splash.
The biggest deal the team ever did was acquiring Ilya Kovalchuk about three weeks before the 2010 trade deadline. It ended up working out just fine for the Devils even though Kovalchuk retired three years later. They sent Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier, Niclas Bergfors, a 1st-round pick, and a 2nd-round pick. The picks ended up being some decent players (Kevin Hayes and Justin Holl), but there’s no saying Lou Lamoriello makes those same picks.
Since then, the Devils have been in 11 different trade deadlines. Which ones did the general manager do best? First, some rules:
-All the deals had to have happened after January 1st to count. So, the Adam Henrique for Sami Vatanen trade won’t be considered, and the Taylor Hall trade is not included.
-This ranks the deals as they were considered at the time. Who was taken with the draft pick gets some consideration, but it’s more looking at value. There is one trade where the draft pick turned into a star, so that has to go into the thinking.
-The ranking does not take into account the GM involved. Obviously, Lou Lamoriello had more clout than Ray Shero who has more clout than Tom Fitzgerald only because of how long they have been NHL GMs.
Last: 2014 NHL Trade Deadline
The 2014 NHL Trade Deadline brought the Devils a deal that felt bad at the time and only got worse with time. The Devils traded Andrei Loktionov and a conditional 3rd-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for Tuomo Ruutu. Ruutu’s time with the Devils was not successful. He spent three seasons with the Devils, and it went so terribly that he could never find another NHL job despite being only 32 years old. He still had three years on his deal, so there was logic to the deal, but it wasn’t the right move. The Devils missed the playoffs every year he was there, including the year they traded for him. The Devils missed the playoffs by five points in 2014, so the deal for Ruutu wasn’t nearly enough to push them into the postseason.